Chinese Orange Chicken made with crispy fried chicken covered in an authentic orange sauce. The ultimate Chinese Orange Chicken Recipe which is way better than take-out.
My kids are always begging me to take them to grab Chinese food. They are obsessed with orange chicken but I am never really sure what's in it....especially if they get it from a drive-thru. I wanted to create a version at home, made from scratch, with all-natural ingredients. It still has the same incredible flavor they love. It's definitely a win-win in our home.
It is wintertime in Arizona which means that the citrus is ripe for the picking. I am surrounded by neighbors who have a plethora of fresh oranges and lemons hanging from their trees. This is the perfect time of year to whip up orange and lemon dishes especially this Chinese Orange Chicken.
This Chinese Orange Chicken is made with boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces, dredged, and then fried until golden and crispy. The orange sauce is divine! It is a sweet orange sauce made with orange juice, vinegar, garlic, sugar, soy sauce, ginger, red chili flakes, and orange zest. It is both sweet and spicy and full of flavor.
How to make Chinese Orange Chicken at home:
- Start with boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs. Cut into bite-size pieces. Dredge the chicken in whisked eggs and cornstarch/flour mixture until nice and coated. Get these chicken pieces ready for the oil.
- To make your homemade orange sauce, place orange juice, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and red chili flakes in a small pot and cook over medium-high heat. Add cornstarch and water and cook until thickened. Stir in orange zest.
- Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. When frying foods, it is so helpful to use a thermometer. Let the oil heat up to 350 degrees. Once the oil is ready, in batches, cook chicken for about 2 minutes until light golden brown. Repeat with remaining chicken.
- Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Toss fried chicken with the sweet orange sauce. Top with grated orange zest and green onions. Serve immediately.
Chinese Orange Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts cut into bite-size pieces
- 3 Eggs whisked
- ⅓ cup Cornstarch
- ⅓ cup Flour
- Salt
- Oil for frying
Orange Chicken Sauce:
- 1 cup Orange Juice
- ½ cup Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar or White Vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce use tamari for a gluten-free dish
- ¼ teaspoon Ginger
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder or 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
- ½ teaspoon Red Chili Flakes
- Orange Zest from 1 orange
- 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
Garnish:
- Green Onions
- Orange Zest
Instructions
- To make orange sauce:
- In a medium pot, add orange juice, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and red chili flakes. Heat for 3 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 Tablespoons of water to form a paste. Add to orange sauce and whisk together. Continue to cook for 5 minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken. Once the sauce is thickened, remove from heat and add orange zest.
- To make chicken:
- Place flour and cornstarch in a shallow dish or pie plate. Add a generous pinch of salt. Stir.
- Whisk eggs in shallow dish.
- Dip chicken pieces in egg mixture and then flour mixture. Place on plate.
- Heat 2 -3 inches of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Using a thermometer, watch for it to reach 350 degrees.
- Working in batches, cook several chicken pieces at a time. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes, turning often until golden brown. Place chicken on a paper-towel-lined plate. Repeat.
- Toss chicken with orange sauce. You may reserve some of the sauce to place on rice. Serve it with a sprinkling of green onion and orange zest, if so desired.
Video
This Orange Chicken is going to make you forget take-out. Let me know how it turns out by reaching out on instagram at @modern_honey. Have a great night, my friends!
Dawn McEvoy
Love, Love, Love this recipe.
Ty for sharing.
How long will it last in the fridge? Or can I freeze it?
Jennifer
Loved it!!! Better than Panda. I used 3 navel oranges and 1 Cara Cara orange and used fresh ginger. Turned out great. Instead of frying the chicken in oil I air fried it to make it a little healthier. Even my kid preferred it over Panda.
Melissa Stadler
Jennifer I am so happy to hear it! I love the adjustments and that they all worked out so well. Thank you so much for trying out my recipe!
Amber R Gates
What temp did you air fry your chicken at?
EFON
I didn't
Maria Ranita PV
Outstanding! I’ve made this dish 6 times in the last month!
Regina
I am trying to meal freezer prep for my daughter and her husband for after baby in born.. Would I be able to freeze the cooked and sauced chicken?
Dina
Just curious when I do 2 tablespoons of water to 1 tablespoon of corn starch for the sauce it doesn't come out pasty. It's still watery just curious what you recommend
Savannah
I added a another heaping teaspoon of cornstarch into the mix. Add the extra cornstarch into the sauce and chicken into the pan, then, turn up the heat. The sauce needs extra cornstarch and heat to thicken up.
Melissa Stadler
Hi Dina! Try to slowly add more cornstarch, stirring well each time. Over the heat it should get pasty! Good luck!
Bea
I recommend doubling the cornstarch/water slurry (2:4 ratio). I did this and sauce turned out thicker.
Melissa Stadler
Yes Regina! You should be able to freeze this. I would freeze the chicken separate from the sauce so that it isn’t soggy when reheated. Hope that helps!
Rebecca
The recipe doesn’t state if we use ginger powder or fresh grated ginger. Which would be preferred here?
Melissa Stadler
Great question Rebecca! I usually use powdered ginger rather than fresh, but if you prefer fresh ginger that would work too. Hope you love it!
Caitlyn
Okay I NEVER comment on recipes but seriously this is SO GOOD.
The only (very slight) change I made was upping rice vinegar and soy just a touch for a bit more acid and salt as the OJ I used was on the sweeter side.
Saving this one and will make it again and again.
Melissa Stadler
What a compliment Caitlyn! Thank you so much for using my recipe. I am so glad that you loved it enough to continue using it!
Patricia K
Absolutely amazing and the previous comments are absolutely correct! Definitely worth the effort and I also used Cara Cara Oranges.
GAIL USKERT
Loved it!
Ev
I love orange chicken and this was the first time that I made it.
I used cayenne as I didn’t have pepper flakes. It was the little
bit of heat that was needed.
Patty
DEEEELLLIIICCIIOUSSS!!!!!!!!!!!
The sauce was perfect! My family and I loved it! Easy to make and way better than take out! Thank you!
Melissa Stadler
Patty this is the best compliment! I am so happy that you guys love my recipe. I completely agree, better than takeout!
T.S.
This was the first time making orange chicken ever and it was delicious and a hit! Did take me longer than the stated time. I tried a shortcut on the chicken and it worked out great and was crispy and brown as expected. I combined the dry ingredients and coated the chicken then put the whisked egg in and coated in same bag. Put pieces in frying oil and was delicious! A little less mess. Thanks for this recipe. Will be making again!
Kiki
SO DELICIOUS!! My husband and I both loved it! I can confirm that it really is better than takeout. My husband already asked me to make it again. Thank you for this great recipe!
Melissa Stadler
I am so thrilled that you both loved it! Hope that it can become a staple in the recipe rotation. Thanks for trying it out!
Mary
Can I use shrimp instead of chicken for this recipe
Holly
Made this recipe on 3/20/23. It took me much longer than the stated prep and cook time, but was my first time doing. I also cooked my chicken in batches as directed but I changed out fresh oil midway through. Maybe I don’t need to do that. My family loved it. Said full of flavor! I’ve made several variations of orange chicken in the past and I’ll be sticking with this recipe! I didn’t think I would have enough orange sauce so I did add about half a jar of store bought…next time I will double the recipe. We served it over rice and stir fry veggies (Sam’s Club). Thanks for sharing!!
Melissa Stadler
Holly I am so glad that you loved this recipe! I’m sure it was delicious with those stir fried veggies. Thanks for trying it out, I hope it can become a staple in your family!
Mark
Hi there,
Can I use an air-fryer for this recipe instead of frying? If so, what suggestion of temperature and time? I know that this varies by air fryer.
Mark
Melissa Stadler
Hi Mark! I honestly haven’t recipe tested this in an air fryer yet, so this is just a guess! I would try cooking around 375-400 degrees for about 10 minutes. I hope that this works! Let me know what you think!
Keith Clark
Absolutely fabulous. I used fresh Cara-Cara oranges for the zest and juice and the taste was amazing. This is a keeper.
Tammy
Just tried this recipe and my (very picky, autistic) taste-tester found it "AMAZING!!". And so did I. This is, absolutely, going to be one of the kids' favorite dish at our house now. THANK YOU! LOVING IT!!
Melissa Stadler
Tammy I love hearing that a picky taste tester gave this recipe the thumbs up! What a compliment! Thanks for trying it out, I am so glad that you both loved it!
Lorraine
This was delicious! My husband I recently moved out to the country and we can’t get Chinese food! Been craving orange chicken and today I made it. Hubby raved about it. I made fried rice with sautéed onions and broccoli to go with. Great recipe, great meal!!
Melissa Stadler
I am constantly craving Chinese food, I don’t know if I could live anywhere else! Thank you so much for using my recipe, I’m so glad that you found it!
Joanna Ratliff
It was great! It tasted very authentic!
Laura
Made it tonight. It was a huge hit with my family. The only thing I didn't have was the orange zest. I will definitely be making it again.
Jessica
Just made this! I used coconut oil to cook the chicken in. It was SO GOOD. I also did fresh squeezed juice from two oranges. Very easy recipe to follow and turned out amazing! I did have to fry the chicken in the oil for a bit longer than 2-3 mins- mine was more like 6 mins but just make sure it’s cooked before you take it out!
Emilia Lorch
Tried making this first time tonight. It turned out amazing!!! So much better than I expected, wow! Will be making this regularly!
The only thing is I used Red pepper flakes as didn't have chili flakes and it still truned out delicious, a bit hot but wow awesome!
Gen
Red pepper flakes and chili flakes are the same thing. 🙂
Laura Macka
I have everything but the orange, will it still be good?
Jojo
Won't be orange chicken without the orange 😣
Barbara
You really do need the orange to make this recipe, otherwise it won't be "Orange Chicken" ...... maybe set the recipe aside until you can have an orange on hand ........... good luck!